Medieval medicine

Question 1

Ancient Greek method of diagnosing a disease

Answer 1

Clinical observation

Question 2

Why did the Christians found hospitals?

Answer 2

To follow Jesus’ example of caring for the sick. Hospitals would care for patients, not cure them

Question 3

What were the Islamic hospitals called?

Answer 3

Bimaristans

Question 4

Why did the church approve of Galen’s ideas ?

Answer 4

Galen believed in a single god who had created the body to perfectly fit together. He also believed that the body had a soul which fit with Christian teachings

Question 5

What procedure were leeches used for to rebalance the four humours

Answer 5

Bloodletting

Question 6

How many patients did each hospital care for in the Middle Ages ?

Answer 6

12

Question 7

What did some town councils do to try and keep their environment clean and healthy?

Answer 7

• York council ordered the building of public toilets in 1298
• London mayor banned the killing of animals within the walls in 1371

Question 8

What was the name of the building in Baghdad which was the largest library, full of medical knowledge

Answer 8

The house of wisdom

Question 9

What would a person have to do to qualify as a doctor in the Middle Ages?

Answer 9

Study at university for 7 years listening to lectures and debating what they had read

Question 10

What did people think caused the Black Death ?

Answer 10

• position of stars and planets
• bad air
• poisoning of Wells by Jews
• punishment from god

Question 11

Why was public health better at monasteries ?

Answer 11

• often built near rivers so had fresh water
• had elaborate pipe system to deliver fresh water to wash basins
• has filtering systems to remove impurities from water

Question 12

Why were Muslim doctors encouraged to find out new things about medicine?

Answer 12

The prophet Muhammad encouraged scientist to discover cure for disease- “for every disease Allāh has given a cure”

Question 13

How did people try to deal with the Black Death?

Answer 13

• drinking mercury
• shaving a chicken and strapping it to buboes
• fled to other towns and villages
• avoided contact with other people

Question 14

What was the impact of the Black Death?

Answer 14

• food shortages
• peasants demanded higher wages
• reputation of the church was damaged

Question 15

What was the name of the two famous Islamic doctors whose work was translated into Latin for European doctors?

Answer 15

Rhazas and Avicenna

Question 16

Why did the Black Death spread so quickly?

Answer 16

• towns and ports were crowded
• people did not know about contagious diseases
• disposal of bodies was poor and helped to spread the disease

Question 17

What were hospitals callas that looked after people with infectious diseases such as leprosy?

Answer 17

Lazar houses

Question 18

What was the name of the place and people who dug out the waste from privies

Answer 18

Cesspits and dung farmers

Question 19

Who could treat you if you were not rich?

Answer 19

Barber-surgeons, as wise woman or a local,parish priest

Question 20

How did the Christmas church control medical knowledge ?

Answer 20

• controlled what was taught in universities
• controlled the production of medical textbooks
• controlled the training of doctors in universities